The Song of the Siren
by Orchid87
Summary: Alexander needs to marry a rich princess in order to save his poverty stricken kingdom, but what happens when he meets another woman and does whatever it takes to get her?---this is a darker fairytale---COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

Legend passes down a tale of folly in the most mysterious sense.

Long ago in a forgotten part of the world, in a forgotten era, lived a young prince by the name of Alexander. He lived in a dwindling kingdom on the edge of a cursed forest, and was ruthlessly controlled by his father, the king. Their empire, poor and poverty stricken, was on the edge of collapse; the kingdom's only hope was Alexander's marriage to a princess who ruled a wealthy realm, so that the two could join and become one, therefore saving the doomed kingdom. Young and impressionable as Alexander was, he agreed without a second thought of his father's demands and thus his life was laid before him. He was to be the sole hope of the survival of his kingdom.....

Or so it would seem.


	2. With a dream comes a solution

"Alexander!" a raspy voiced called from the end of a hall.

The king had just awoken from another one of his nightmares. In these latter days, his dreams became more and more corrosive, eating him away, body and mind. His once youthful skin now hung dry and limp around his sinking frame, and his auburn locks no more than thin grey threads covering his weather beaten scalp.

"Alexander! Wake up this instant!" He stormed into his room and threw back his bed curtains.

"Father..wha...what's wrong?" a dazed answer came from within as the light from the early breaking dawn flooded his chamber. "A nightmare?" he questioned, when he found his voice.

The king did not reply, obviously too caught up in his own fear and anxiety, but rather forcefully pulled Alexander from his divan. Too fearful to query him further, Alexander quickly followed his father's ample pace down one of the main corridors of the dark, cheerless castle. They hastened for the drawing room, and swiftly, the king shut the doors behind him after Alexander was safe inside. Checking the room for privacy, the king poked and prodded every statue and tapestry that occupied it. This mannerism, common for him nowadays, hinted at his betrayal in the far-off past. Alexander yawned as he took his seat by the window that overlooked the dense forest. This young lad, no more than 16 was used to his father's nightmares, and didn't give it much thought as to this morning's cataclysm.

Once satisfied, the king took his place by his son, and sat in deep thought for nearly a half-hour. With difficulty, Alexander found his voice,

"Father....." He was cut-off mid-sentence.

"Alexander," the king began "I have had the dream again."

"The dream about our sovereignty?"

"Yes, and it grows worse. With every night it comes to haunt me, I do fear the stress it builds upon my body will destroy me. The dream, as I am sure you have realized is based on truth. Our kingdom is failing, and with the little time that it has left, will collapse. I have seen this when I sleep, and the outcome terrifies me." His sunken eyes drift upwards towards Alexander's.

Alexander saw the fear built up behind the piercing orbs and was taken aback by them.

"So much sorrow and remorse.." he thought.

"I am telling you this because I have a plan. A plan to stop this poverty and to change our people's fortune for the better." A luminous light danced from within his sudden smirk.

Alexander, you must marry a wealthy princess.....any princess. I will arrange everything; you need not bother yourself with detail. All you have to do is show up for the ceremony. It's perfect! She, with her wealth, will save us all!" The king suddenly shouted and rose into the air, arms overhead in triumph at his genius. He never even considered his son's opinion on the matter, and why should he? Alexander did everything that was ever asked of him, as if to refuse meant to cut his very legs from under him.

Alexander nodded in conformity, and without hesitation. After this action, he bowed his head low, pursed his lips, and clasped his hands together. His life was laid before him in the matter of minutes, and he, in his silence, had watched it form in front of his eyes. The king satisfied with himself, headed back to his room to catch the sleep he had been robbed of these past nights. But Alexander stared vacantly out of the drawing room window into the enchanted forest. Like most of his young life, he remained speechless throughout the remainder of the morning.


	3. A walk in the woods

The next day brought high hopes for the kingdom. The people, upon hearing the news, rejoiced in the streets and sang songs of merriment and allegiance to their crown and future abode, after all, their pathetic dwelling would merge with a larger one, leaving them with the promise of sure wealth. The king spent all these days finding Alexander a bride. Many were betrothed from birth and others were much too young. He searched day and night, high and low for the perfect match until a bride was chosen. She, being around the ripe age of 28 was homely and a bit daft, but she was rich and her parents, tired of her carping, were eager to marry her off, to anyone, at any cost. Arrangements were set a month in advance and Alexander, though never saying much, wasn't quite ready to take his place as the prince savior of this future empire. On a lonely night near the month of October, Alexander, needing a retreat from his father's ever increasing demands, retreated outdoors for a walk among the stars. This night, a new moon was overhead and the path was hidden from its traveler's view. Alexander, not knowing his way, began to wander into the enchanted forest and into a realm of pure vile only know to those who seek it, which seldom live to retell any tales. Tales have been told of a lady who haunts the woods with a voice so smooth and rich, that it had been known allure and drive men and women alike into insanity. Her beautiful melodies echo through the leaves and the limbs sway her harmony to the distant listening ears. She is the siren of the wood, and all that hear her mysterious song, become ensnared like a fly for the widow's feast.

Alexander felt the air around him become thick and dense, and he found it getting harder to breathe, so he stopped to rest against one of the forest's many trees. While leaning there, he heard a faint sound breaking its way from the depth of the branches. Curious as to the sudden noise, Alexander trampled among the ground of foliage towards the eerie melody. With the increasing of the voice, his pace and pulse quickened. This beautiful voice was driving him wild, and the woman making it played with his senses....his being! He came to a clearing and found her, back facing him, clothed in the purest white satin gown that trailed three feet from behind her frame and emitted a fair glow that shamed the softest gold once known in the old castle halls now lost. Her flush allowed her to be seen even in the darkest of settings and her long fiery red hair cascaded down her long, curved back, and sent Alexander a warm shiver through his spine. She turned toward him, singing her harmonious song in a tongue unfamiliar to these dwellings and his eyes were steadily fixed upon her mesmerizing splendor. She smiled at him while singing her haunting melody and with one long stride she disappeared behind a tall sinewy oak and her stunning voice swiftly, but faintly, died away.

Alexander, frenzied that he let this red-haired beauty slip away, searched frantically for her, but it ended in vain. She had simply vanished into thin air.

"Impossible! She has to be here!!" Alexander yelled hysterically as he scoured the trees, tearing his clothes in the process. After an hour of looking, he finally tired himself and fell asleep on the cool, damp forest floor.


	4. The words of the wise

The morning light broke upon Alexander's face and, startled from his surroundings, whirled in every direction from the ground upwards. As his glance darted about, he found himself staring right into the face of peasant children, laughing at his confusion and dismay. When he stirred to stand, the children ran off to play their juvenile games and laughed into the distance all the while looking back at Alexander, who was now rubbing the back of his head with bewilderment. He gave a look around and determined he had woken up in the middle of the town's paved roads. But how?

Alexander had no time for questions; he had to get back to the castle, before his father knew he was missing. On his journey back, his thoughts concentrated not so much on his father, or his strange predicament, but on the beautiful maiden he had seen in the forest last night. A dance of fire could be seen in his eyes as his mind trailed on.

His musings were only interrupted by the observations of a lonely old man who had seen Alexander's eyes as he begged for the scraps on the side of the street. Immediately, upon recognizing the impending danger, stopped Alexander and seized him by his shoulders.

"You have seen the Lady who haunts the woods!" the old man mumbled from the loss of his rotting teeth. "I can see her fire in your eyes! You have heard her enchanting music in the forbidden forest!" his mumbling began to become ranting as he continued.

"Heed an old beggar's words, you must never venture back! She will trap you in her veil of malevolence!! If you seek her, you shall surly perish!" The man worked himself up into a fervor so intense he began to shake from his frailty.

Alexander, a little more than alarmed and certainly dismayed by the old haggard appearance of the man, threw the bony hands from him.

"Get off me old peasant, just who do you think you are!" demanded the young prince in an authoritative tone, backing gradually away from this unwelcome stranger.

As his pace quickened, he could still hear the distant cries from the now shrinking man in the distance,

"She will kill you.....

............................. Never ....

.....................................go....back!"

His voice trailed away.

"What nonsense! How could such a lovely creature possibly be evil? He has surly gone insane with his old age."

A few moments later, Alexander stepped over the threshold of his home. He was greeted by his father, who was purple and red with anger. Usually when the King was irritated with his son, Alexander would pay attention to his faults, and try hard never to repeat them, for his own sake rather than to please. But Alexander never heard a word from the frothing mouth of the King, his mind remained leagues away with the memory of the lady in the forest. With these thoughts, Alexander's eyes, once more began to flicker with this inferno.

"..And furthermore Alexan.... The King stopped short.

......... What in God's name.....Alexander, what's the matter with your eyes?!"

" Alexander!!" the King snapped his long skeletal fingers in front of his son's nose.

The light died, and Alexander was once again in the planes of the present world, doing just what was asked of him.


	5. An obsession

Several days had gone by since Alexander's mysterious event.

With each passing day, the thoughts of her that swum through his head became more intense and emotional. He even found himself crying when he heard her enthralling melodies in his mind. The young prince could barley sleep and hardly touched his food. Every night, against the orders from the beggar of the town, Alexander traveled back into the forest to catch a song from her, or even a glimpse of her divine beauty. Several times her swore he heard her, and once an owl flew by and he, for a fleeting moment, suspected she had come for him. One other night, he heard the woman's soft echo ring out to him from what seemed all key directions. The language which was spoken he didn't understand, but to Alexander's ears, it held the presence of an invitation. With Alexander's tainted ears, he couldn't detect an underlying tone of evil.

With the season's change, his passion for the girl grew steadily on. He no longer cared for anyone, or anything. His wedding fast approached, and his father pounded stress on him; Alexander could only tolerate so much.

The pressure that building up, and the demands from his father made him obey everyone but himself. All he wanted was to be heard, and each day he this cycle was being overcome.

Then it so happened on one eerie moonlit night that Alexander did speak his mind.

The king and son were having a quarrel, a not so rare thing in this past month. The engagement was over Alexander's future bride.

"Alexander! You WILL marry the princess, she is the only hope for this kingdom and you know it!

"I refuse! I do not love her, I love another!"

"It doesn't matter, you have no choice! I command you as your King, father and lord over you! You will marry her, and that's FINAL!!"

Then a peculiar calm swept over the room.

"No....

....I won't. Too long have you pushed me around and governed my life" Alexander stated calmly and threateningly as began a slow and menacing approach towards his father. "I have listened to you for the last time!" His voice began to rise as he filled the gap between them.

"Be reasonable, be rational!" cried the king in a last minute plea for sense, the terror etched over his white flesh.

"I am." Said Alexander in a hushed, terrifyingly manner. Flame could be seen within his menacing orbs as they pierced his father's lessening glance.

Alexander's dagger rose from his sheath, and he brought it close to the soft, incisive skin under the King's throat, waiting for his impending end, the King shut his eyes, and clenched his jaw.

But nothing happened.

Opening the crack of his left eye to see the cause of delay, he saw Alexander, blade pulled away from his body, and staring off towards the forest, mouth wide with wonder. He dropped his weapon and ran quickly out of the castle and made his way for the sound which, the King had now realized, had saved his life.


	6. The song of the siren

The moon was very bright that night, and Alexander could make his way through the trees with a great ease of motion. As he traveled deeper into the forest towards the haunting noise, nothing, not even the certainty of his inevitable doom was to be considered; not so long as the enchanting voice called to him. As he slowed his run to an a swift jog, (for the trees were so tight that they prevented such running,) he began to see a faint outline of a whitish glow, and the sheen of satin....and the echoes of the siren's mesmerizing song. He could see her clearly now, her red hair caught the patches of the moonlight that made its way through the gaps of the forest canopy. Upon hearing him approach, his footsteps crackling through the leaves, her voice suddenly stopped, and she turned her body sideways to watch him. He too, stopped and stared at her. Too caught up with her splendor to take another step, he fixed his wild eyes on her and a sidelong smile made its way to his sweaty features.

With a wry grin, she stepped behind a tree so as to be hidden from his view.

Alexander did not understand, so with his smile now fleeting, he hastened towards where she had vanished. Looking behind the trunk, he searched for where the woman had gone. From behind another tree, she showed her visage, and finding him, she began to giggle. Alexander ran for her, but once he had reached it, she was gone from sight yet again. Again he heard a chuckle, and discovered her concealed behind a large Ash, this one even further into the depths of the woods. He chased after her and played her silly game for a good 10 minutes, never once did the thought of foul play cross his mind. He was in love with her, and when he caught her, he would marry her.

The enchantress hid from out of Alexander's view, listening for his calls and waiting for him to edge closer towards her. The forest and the moon were growing dimmer as the pursuit continued, so to help him in his search she began to sing a long, somber ballad. A ballad mournful in its tune that it suggested its composer had felt the bitterness of death, and poured its pain into every stanza that the siren's voice floated out. With every breath she drew in, the music became more alive, as if possessed a magic force of its own.

The sardonic smile she had on her face as he came closer etched wider, and grew with every approaching saunter.

Then a hush fell like a blanket upon the woods. Alexander, aware of the silence, became afraid and conscious of the distance he had traveled. The tree's long branches were like the claws of a wild ravenous beast, and they combed at Alexander's clothes, ripping their seams apart, as if becoming alive. Their grip, whether keeping him away from her or holding tight so as to overcome deliberate escape, held fast and gnawed at his flesh like a hungry wolf after its kill.

The leaves rustled from the carpet of the forest and he glanced around in every direction, wishing and hoping his fears wouldn't become his fate.

The wind stirred and the trees ached and moaned with it, whispering their secrets of the emending doom in which was inevitable for young prince Alexander.

Then, like the falling stars raining down from the heavens, she was upon him.

The fire burned bright from her wicked orbs, and her smile cast into contortion as she overcame him.

Alexander was never seen, nor heard from again.


	7. Epilogue

Never more is the kingdom that once promised great things. With the absence of Alexander, the forest's deep blackness engulfed it in its swallow after its many years of abandonment. They say that when the moon cast down a pale glow, you can see the old remains of the castle, its walls and windows now overgrown with a pestilence of ivy. But, if you so happen to be in that part of the forgotten world on a night that shines bright with the flush of moonshine, take heed the tale told of Alexander and his foolishness, because she is watching

…..and waiting.

_This was a darker fairytale. I don't know where I got the idea for this, but I had to write it down as fast as I could. This would be my second fanfic, the first being William and Maria(which I need to finish!), which was a nice little story. I don't know, I guess I was just in one of those moods. I wanted to write a darker fairytale with a not so "happily ever after" ending. I figured I could use the change, and I think fanfics on the whole (at least the fairytale section) could too._

_..........but I do LOVE happily ever afters!_


End file.
